


25 drabbles of Christmas

by Lethally



Category: Code Black (TV), Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater, Revolution (TV), The Librarians (TV 2014), The Originals (TV), Zoo (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-05
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-05 02:01:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 5,760
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5356790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lethally/pseuds/Lethally
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>25 drabbles until Christmas // drabble pairing in the chapter title</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Charlie/Connor + "Well, this is awkward." + college AU

“Charlie, open the door to Bass and his kid!” Rachel’s voice carried from the kitchen to the living room where Charlie was putting decorations around the windows. A few pulls didn’t dislodge the garland that got stuck in her hair and Danny was too busy prettying up the tree, leaving Charlie to twist the garland around her neck like a boa and open the door without giving one hint of a fuck.

  
“Charlotte, hi! That’s a nice scarf you’ve got there.” Of course, Bass could not help being a smartass, making Charlie look skyward as a smile briefly showed on her lips. She turned to introduce herself to Bass’ infamous son who was hidden in the doorway but was left speechless when she saw who it was.

  
“Connor?!” She remembered the garland around her neck, her hands subtly combing through her hair to tug it off, while Connor Bennett, the radio MC of her college, was standing right in front of her, looking awfully pleased with himself.

  
“Charlie.” From his smug voice, she could already hear the new songs he would dedicate to her when they’d get back after the break. She wanted to grab him by the hair and push him down in the snow, straddle him and make him beg until – until he begged and she won, of course.

  
“Well, this is awkward.” Bass was looking between them with his inquisitive eyes, probably looking for some gossip to share with Uncle Miles when he’d arrive.

  
“What’s taking you so long, Char’.” As Danny popped behind her shoulder, Charlie remember that she was literally blocking off the entry to their house, reluctantly she took a step back and help back from punching Connor in the face when he trailed a hand around her garland as he walked in.

  
She couldn’t wait to get back to college and taking revenge at the next dorm party. Whatever he would do tonight would only fuel her revenge plans.


	2. Mario/Angus + "You lied to me."

“Hey, Mario, I forgot. When did you say your water heater would get fixed again?” Angus asked as he caught Mario taking a shower before shift. His eyes lingered on Mario’s naked and thin torso; it didn’t take a MD to see that he could use a little more food. Angus made a mental note to invite the guy to an all-you-can-eat restaurant soon. 

“I don’t know yet, the plumber said he needed a piece to fix it and he gotta order it and all that mess.” His voice came out muffled as he was drying his hair with a towel.

“I thought you said your landlord wouldn’t pay for the plumber’s bill even though it was a quick fix and you had to wait until your paycheck came in.” It had been over a week since they’d collected their paycheck, Angus hadn’t wanted to jump on Mario the following day but it had been way too long for Mario’s water heater to not have been fixed. And now here he was caught telling a different story. 

Mario looked up from the bench; Angus had moved right in front of him and the man looked like a puppy with the towel half covering his face. But Angus wouldn’t let himself be swayed by Mario’s good looks, he would have the truth. 

“You lied to me.” The neediness in his voice was perhaps a bit too much but Angus had never been above whining if it got him what he wanted. 

“It’s just that… Arh, why do you care!” The sentence was definitely not a question so Angus felt free to ignore it and keep on the betrayed act. 

“I thought we were talking, like, you know, being honest with each other, cause I don’t really know if you think we’re friends. I mean, I do think we’re friends but since you’re lying over basic stuff like that you probably—” On a scale of one to ten in How Long Until Mario Tells Angus To Shut Up, he had lasted until a seven, which was setting a new record by two points. 

“Fine! My building is closed for demolition so I’m just crashing there until I find a new place I can afford. They cut off the water two weeks ago, yesterday they cut off the electricity and I lost all my food, so there.” In that instant, Angus felt his fists spasm as if they’d like nothing more than to close around Mario’s throat. But, because Angus believed in pacifism, he sat down next to Mario, laid a hand on his – unfortunately clothed – shoulder and told him in a voice that broke no argument:

“Then you can crash at my place until you find a new place. I have a guest bedroom I’ve been using as an office, I’ve got cable and all those sports channels, electricity, hot water, all that jazz.” 

Mario shrugged off his hand and got up to hang the towel in his locker, his hands were gripping the towel so hard they were white, his jaw was locked and his lips white – Mario’s typical I Don’t Want To Let Go Of My Pride face. 

He finally turned after hanging his towel just so and so, opened his mouth in what Angus thought to be his refusal face and a refusal was not on his mind.   
“Just tell me how much you paid for your place and I’ll draft you a lease and all, how’s that?” 

“It’s… great, really. Thank you, man.” 

“You say that now…” Angus laughed. He got up to meet Chrysta and Malaya for their pre-shift coffee, and paused at the door. 

“Did I tell you I don’t have a coffee machine?” He asked Mario and left, Mario’s last sentence lost in the chaos of the hospital. 

“What kind of guy does not own a freaking coffee machine? We are buying one after shift!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Angus totally drinks hot cocoa for breakfast)


	3. Miles/Nora + "It's not what it looks like..."

“Nora, it’s… It’s really not what it looks like.” Miles had blocked her path the moment she entered the living room, protecting the monster that was behind him. 

“Really?! You’re telling this is not your niece and nephew giving my dog a haircut? Wow, I must really be going blind to have thought it was what I saw. Well, what is it, Miles? Enlighten me.” Her voice had started high pitched and angry and ended in a deadpan, leaving Miles white as a sheet as he stuttered trying to explain what had happened. 

Behind him, Charlotte and Daniel were sitting still, cross-legged in front of the couch with Nora’s husky sprawled over them. Charlotte was still holding a pair of scissors raised over her head while Daniel held a fistful of dog fur in his small hands. 

Miles’ was standing between Nora and the slightly cowering but mostly unworried children, his hands raised in a peace gesture. 

“What happened is… the kids got some gum on Miloe’s back and it wouldn’t come off so we were gonna cut it off his back.” 

Nora’s frown did not loosen up at all, but she uncrossed her arms and snuck under Miles’ arm. 

“Charlie, give me the scissors.” She laid her hand over Charlotte’s and slowly got the stubborn four year old to let go. She turned to Daniel, half leaning over him as she’d done Charlotte. “Danny, show me where the gum is.” 

After the three year old pointed out the location, Nora swiftly cut off the gum off Miloe’s back while the children clapped. 

She passed by the kitchen to clean up the scissors and get rid of the fur, “If you want to stay for the weekend, Miles, you better get the wonder twins back to their parents.” 

She caught Miles and the kids having a staring contest in the middle of her living room, both Miles and Charlotte’s hands were on their hips while Daniel wavered between glaring at Miles and glaring at Charlotte. 

Charlotte cheered when Miles lost the contest and let out a heavy sigh, Daniel following up by mimicry a few seconds after. 

She chanted “ice cream, ice cream, ice cream”, wavering between petting Miloe and petting Daniel. 

After a pitiful look sent her way, Miles took both kids by their hand and walked out while they chattered away at him.


	4. Mitch/Chloé + "Tell me a secret."

The artificial lights of the gas station shop had burnt imprints on Chloé’s eyelids; in the moment she entered the shop she had felt an overwhelming urge to stare at the lights, and now the white spots on her eyes wouldn’t leave her long enough for her to spot the stars up above. 

She felt repulsed by the idea of locking herself again in her motel room and turned toward the pool, ducking under the stairs to the room floor. 

Her steps echoed through the empty building, the plastic bag at her wrist swishing in rhythm, the flashes of white at her side gave depth to the shadows around her; Chloé was slowly being suffocated by her own paranoia and she knew that wishing for daylight would not change anything to her situation as the weight on her lungs never seemed to lighten anymore. 

She meant to simply walk through the door leading to the outdoor pool but the door resisted her, and her anxiety spiked up as she considered her position, trapped in a growing darkness – clouds hiding the moonlight – an open target. She turned back towards the shadowed hallway when the door behind her rattled and she felt her heart stop as she jumped back and brandished her bag as a weapon. 

Of course, the person on the other side turned out to be a reclusive veterinarian and not an assassin from a multinational company that had vowed to kill them all. Mitch opened the door for her in silence as Chloé caught her breath and walked to the poolside, lying down on the long chair next to Mitch’s, recognizable by the beer at its foot. 

She closed her eyes, noticing that the white spots were finally gone, counted to 21 in Russian and let out a long sigh. After some rummaging through her loot from the twenty four hour store she pulled out two of her beloved chocolate tablets, the other seven staying safe inside the bag, and handed one to Mitch who was drinking his beer and reading through an old and battered book she hadn’t noticed before. The moon was barely lighting their silhouettes enough that they could see each other’s faces. 

“How can you read in the dark like this? Do you have night vision too, now?” 

He hadn’t noticed she was waiting for him to grab the chocolate, his nose still deep in the book. 

“I don’t need to read it actually. Know the book by heart.” 

Exasperated, Chloé threw the chocolate at his chest. Mitch held it up to read the label before eating a piece. 

“You’ve got fancy tastes.” 

“I’m French, you could say it’s in our nature. Good food, good wine, good chocolate, well, those are Swiss actually, mais ça revient au même.” 

A sudden moan left Mitch’s mouth as he let the chocolate melt on his tongue. He leaned down and came up pointing a beer at Chloé, which she accepted in silence. 

She rested against the chair and looked up at the stars, in Paris there were zero chances of ever seeing more than one or two, and that was on a good night, and in Africa she hadn’t really had the time or the idea to even look up when the danger was all around them. It sure felt nice to relax even if they were still on the hunt for another species turned Defiant. For the first time in weeks, she did not feel the need to check her surroundings, look behind her shoulder or stay alert, for once she could feel her body’s aches as it loosened up. The mere idea of going back to her dreary motel room was causing her panic. 

She turned her cheek on the head rest, staring at Mitch who had given up on his book, his eyes lost on the distorted reflection of the sky in the pool. Her literature teacher would probably have something to say about the deeper meaning of this surreal scene, the grouchy vet and the chatty analyst bathed in moonlight, an unlikely romance. 

Her mouth suddenly opened on her own, her desire to, for once, invert their roles too powerful to be restrained.

“Tell me a secret.” 

His head turned toward hers, his empty beer bottle dropped on the floor and the chocolate carefully placed on his stomach for an easy access. 

“Sure.” 

And he started talking, while she listened, and sometimes let out a snarky remark – he was the only one she knew who wouldn’t take it the wrong way.


	5. Klaus/Hayley + Staying or going?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Written before ep9 aired

She waltzed towards the kitchen, guided by the memory of chocolate mousse she’d tasted during the dinner; she had been too full to eat more than a few spoons of the delicious dessert and she now craved it again. Her footsteps were silent through the hallways of the compound, her socked feet protecting her from the chilly floor. It seemed vampires thought it was unnecessary to heat up the place, except for Hayley and Hope’s rooms thankfully. As a hybrid Hayley did not have to bother covering up anymore which left her free to sleep in December in very short shorts and a large tank top, walking barefoot on a cold floor reminded her of too many bad memories. From the way the dinner had gone, Hayley felt reassured in her decision to stay the night in the compound with Hope so she could spend the morning of Christmas with her family. Her daughter deserved to spend some joyful time with her close family.

A light coming from the kitchen door slowed her steps and she shyly peaked through the doorway to see who she would have to fight for the chocolate mousse, already preparing a battle strategy – God knew Rebekah was vicious when it came to chocolate, and Freya not above using magic, that cheating witch. 

She was completely caught off guard as she saw Klaus, head bent in the fridge, humming as he pulled out the chocolate mousse bowl. Questions of whether she was that hungry entered her mind but her debate was interrupted as Klaus turned towards her, the bowl in his hand.

“What will it be, Hayley? Staying, or going?” He gave her a depreciative smile, so different than his sharp and twisted smiles. She looked at him in his entirety for the first time that day; he looked soft, that was the only word she could find to explicate the contrast with his usual sharp presence, lighten by the dimmed light of the kitchen and wearing his favorite grey sweatpants and hoodie half pulled over his head. 

Perhaps if he could look so open around her, it was time to repay him in kind. She walked straight to the silverware drawer, pulling two spoons out of it and sat on the central table in front of the fridge.

“Maybe this time we should start with sharing?” She held out the second spoon for him. Tonight was not the time for coy answers, and she felt freed as she answered him without any more pretenses, no more mirrors reflecting the illusion they wanted the other to see. 

He took the spoon with a half smile and jumped next to her, the bowl of chocolate placed between them as an offering. Hayley took her first spoonful of mousse and let out a moan, the sinful dessert tasted even better than she remembered. Klaus chuckled at her, the table softly trembling with him.   
“I guess I’ll have to make more of this mousse au chocolat, huh?” 

She looked at him with wide eyes, “you mean you made this? From scratch?” 

“Why, yes. I’ll have you know I learnt from the best chef in Paris, love. I wonder if Hope is old enough to taste some…” 

“Oh, hell no!” Her vehement response startled him, and Hayley felt that he was closing himself up, hiding from her again. She couldn’t bear that thought. 

She grabbed the bowl and put it on her lap. 

“There’s no way I am sharing with Hope! She’ll get addicted to chocolate, and I know you know she turns into a little devil when she’s high on sugar.”


	6. Charlie/Connor + singing "Baby it's cold outside"

They’d decided to rest for the night in an old building’s basement, the only place in this town that didn’t look about to collapse.

Miles and Monroe had gone to search for some water in town after discovering that the basement was an old theater, with no kitchen. Charlie and Connor had been curious about the place, asking a thousand questions about what plays were shown “in your time” and who was Shakespeare – Bass had grumbled about the kids making him feel too old and Miles had followed, fleeing the many questions he didn’t want to answer.

When they came back, bottles filled with water from an old reservoir, they found music playing off an old gramophone, and Connor and Charlie singing and dancing on stage. Their steps had gone a bit blurry with liquor, and Miles cursed when he saw Connor drinking from the bottle of a brand whiskey, the alcohols of the post-blackout were the real shit.

“So really I’d better scurry“ Charlie was affecting airs on stage and Connor was twirling around singing to his bottle.

“Beautiful, please don’t hurry.”

Charlie held out an arm, prying the bottle out of Connor’s hand. “Maybe just half a drink more.”

Connor sat – or fell – down and pouted at Charlie who smirked at him before taking a sip.

“Put some records on while I pour.“


	7. Klaus/Hayley + presents

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one written after the 3.09 aired, appropriately titled "this is how things ought to have been"

After the gifts have been exchanged in a cacophony of giggles and shouts, everyone has spread out, some to the kitchen and some to their bedrooms while Hayley and Hope are still seated next to the tree and Klaus is simply watching them from the couch. Klaus suddenly gets up, jumps to the upper floor and come back less than a minute later. Hope is laughing as Hayley makes silly noise behind the large teddy bear Freya got her when Klaus steps in and kneels on the rug next to Hayley and Hope. 

“I have a present, for both of you.” His hands fidget with the small box in his hands, wrapped in flashy red paper that draws Hope’s attention. 

He smiles as Hope tries to catch the box he holds above her head before switching items and giving her the wooden wolf he had carved for her and gifted her before. 

“I had Freya help me with it,” he says as he turns to Hayley and hands her the box. She is slightly wary as it is rare to see Klaus so hesitant and she doesn’t wish to antagonize him after he saved her earlier, the phantom feeling of a hand squeezing her heart has yet to dissipate. 

She opens the box to reveal three leather bracelets, she picks up one of the two large bracelets, they are almost black in color, made of five straps entwined together in a pattern Hayley guesses resembles Viking designs. She places it back in the box and holds the smaller bracelet, made of thinner straps of leather entwined in an opposite pattern as the first bracelet. She looks questioningly at Klaus, she cannot see him simply offering her and Hope matching bracelets, especially if he had Freya’s help. 

Klaus gently takes the small bracelet out of her hand and slip it on Hope’s wrist and the bracelet shifts in front of their eyes to be snugger around her small wrist. Tiny fingers touch the bracelets curiously and then hold on to Klaus’ hand while Hope starts babbling to him, pointing this and that way while Klaus looks at her with pure joy. 

He lets Hope keep hold of his hand and with the other he places a bracelet around Hayley’s wrist, her left arm, like Hope. 

“Freya spelled the bracelets so we will always be alerted when Hope is in danger or in pain and they should give us a sense of her direction if we are ever separated from her.” His hand reaches for the last bracelet but Hayley beats him to it. She slowly places it around Klaus’ wrist with her left hand, a flash of light emits from the three bracelets; a feeling of love and security rushes out of the bracelet when she touches it. 

“Wow.” Klaus mirrors her gesture, and she sees the moment he understands, his eyes open wide as he realizes that he can distinguish which emotions come from Hayley and which come from Hope. 

They both turn away and focus on their daughter as she babbles on while she plays with her new toys, a giggle leaving her lips every time her right hand brushes against the bracelet. 

“Klaus, this is… I have no words, thank you so much.” She wants to hug the heck out of him but she knows it would feel awkward between them; instead she grabs his hand and slightly pulls him in to kiss his cheek. 

He stares at her in shock while she smiles at him, thankful for this family day despite all the drama. Hope’s hand grabs on to their still holding hands and she uses them to get to her feet, walking from one to the other while holding on to their arms like a rail. They both start talking to her, mock serious as Hope mumbles nonsense to them.


	8. Klayley + werewolf

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I know you’re trying to be scary, but when I scratch your ears, your tail starts wagging and gosh you’re the cutest monster.”

She’s been tracking his scent through the bayou for the past hour when she reaches a clearing where his trail ends. A branch breaks behind her and she jumps, only to find him leaning on a tree and staring at her. Klaus is half naked, he is only wearing sweatpants, the rest of his clothes folded on a fallen tree in the middle of the clearing. At least now she knew why the trail had stopped there. There is something completely wild at seeing Niklaus Mikaelson barefoot in the forest, something that reminds her of those months in the mountains, training Tyler into breaking the sire bond. Something that calls to her soul, she watches his lean body, at home in the woods and all she wants is to pounce and chase and play. 

Klaus lets out a chuckle and when she sees his mouth turn from a frown into a smug smile she is reminded of why she is here and what she has to do. 

“Do you like what you see, Little Wolf?” He raises himself to his full height and walks past her to the center of the clearing, his heady scent surrounds her for an instant before being replaced by the comforting smell of the bayou. 

“Elijah told me what you were about to do, then Rebekah told me where you were and I had to come help you.” 

“Help me?” His voice comes out as a roar. “What makes you think I would ever need your help, Hayley? I am and have always been the first hybrid.” 

She ignores his posturing and finds a moss covered stump to sit on, “The last time you turned into a wolf was, what, a thousand years ago? You lost control and murder a bunch of people, activated your curse and then murdered more people, as a wolf, and you don’t remember that part. Then your mom locked your werewolf part because of Mikael and thus you’ve never learned to control it, am I right?”

The wind picks up around them, the rustle of the leaves a chorus chanting around them, calling to Hayley’s wild heart. She is able to ignore it, has learned to after her first few months as a hybrid; yet Klaus’ eyes seem lost for a second, his fingers white knuckled around his arms as he tries to hide his turmoil. She taps her thighs a few times to draw his attention back to her and continues,   
“You don’t know what it’s like, controlling the wolf inside you. You’ve never been a werewolf, you haven’t learned to reign in the wolf for one night and you’ve ignored your wolf side as a hybrid. I’ve only ever seen you call your teeth for their venom and never more. After I turned, during those months without Hope I came to the bayou sometimes to force myself to turn and break any sire bond I could possibly have to anyone.” 

Klaus lets out a sharp inhale at that confession, but Hayley keeps her eyes on the ground where she is playing with the grass blades at her feet. 

“The hardest thing as a hybrid isn’t to become a wolf, I mean, yes it is painful, but it’s not the hardest part.” She stops fidgeting and raises her head, realizing he has come closer without her noticing. 

“The hardest part is changing back into a human. Turning is freeing, you become a wolf, pure and simple, you need to eat, you want to play, to mate… It takes a while before you can think as a person while in your wolf body. As a werewolf it’s not a problem because come daylight, you don’t have a choice but when as a hybrid you have the choice. And that’s why I had to come and help you, because no one can force you to turn back and Hope doesn’t deserve to lose her dad because he thought he was strong enough when he really wasn’t because he didn’t ask the one person who knows exactly how it feels.” 

His face hardens at her last words and Hayley knows that he has decided to ignore everything she said because of it; she would berate herself but if she is honest with herself she knows that there is nothing she can do when Klaus decides to be stubborn, and she knows she pushed him on purpose. She isn’t Camille to believe that he can be swayed or changed or whatever, no, what she knows about him, what she has learned from living with Klaus is that sometimes he needs to feel scorned and feel angry and in need to prove something. Her telling him that he will lose to his wolf was the only thing she could tell him to get him to come back. 

“I will show you that I am not some weakling who would lose control to a wolf, I will turn into a wolf and change back on my own because I will never abandon my daughter.” 

His eyes glow yellow suddenly and his bones start to snap, his body breaking to remodel itself. He doesn’t scream throughout the painful process and Hayley wonders why she thought he would scream, he is a thousand year old vampire, he is stronger than most after all. Perhaps she wanted him to feel pain, payback for those three months he stole from her. 

She shakes her head, and focus on the growling beast in front of her. Klaus’ wolf form isn’t much taller than hers, his fur is a mix of grey, black and rust. He is however broader than most wolves she’s met which combined with him growling at her, makes him a strong predator. 

He keeps growling at her, teeth bared and legs camped on the ground, until she lets out a low growl, her chin closer to her chest as she shows her dominance. She expects him to attack her but the wolf yips instead and adopts a more playful posture. He comes to her, starts scenting her stomach then her face. A wet tongue licks her cheek and Hayley can’t hold a back a sound of disgust. 

She pushes the wolf off her legs and slowly scratches his head then moves to his ears and all the wolf does is lay down at her feet, wagging his tail when she scratches behind his ears.

Who would have thought that Klaus Mikaelson would be a dog in a wolf’s clothing. She quickly snaps a picture of him and when he still doesn’t react she moves to sit on the ground next to him and starts recording a video for Rebekah and Kol. 

An hour later, after playing catch with him and following him as he hunted a deer, she draws Klaus back to the clearing and sits cross-legged while the wolf lays his head down on her legs. She rubs at his snout some more, laughing as he tries to nip his fingers and as she notices the dimming light, decides that it is time to draw the real Klaus back. She half hopes he won’t remember what happened so she will be free to share all her blackmail material with Rebekah, Freya and Kol, yet if Klaus does remember she will see his embarrassed face as he will remember acting like a puppy and following her around for a long hour. 

“Come on, Klaus. Time to turn back.” 

The wolf snaps his teeth at her, moving so he is half lying on her lap when she pushes him off her and growls. 

“I said, it’s time to turn again, Hope is waiting for us to eat dinner, remember?” 

Klaus lets out a sad sound as the sound of breaking bones filled the air again, Hayley walked away to gather his clothes, coming back with her eyes closed as she held out his jeans. 

Klaus chuckles, “Nothing you haven’t already seen, Little Wolf. Unless you forgot how we conceived Hope?” His voice is sleepy and raspy from the shift, it is the first Hayley sees Klaus looking openly exhausted and not trying to hide it.

She playfully slaps his chest and grabs a hold of his arm when he sways back, she draws him closer and half carries him back to her car. 

“So… Do you remember when you chased that poor bunny and then dropped it at my feet with your tail wagging?”

“Oh God, please tell me I didn’t do that.”


	9. Ezekiel & Flynn + Don't hate the thief, hate the thieving

“Stone, I assume you know other scholars in all the fields we need?” Flynn asked imperiously, a behavior enhanced by the large branch he was waving around, and using to point at people.

“I know people in all of the historical and cultural departments around the world, except in Australia. I don’t know any scholars working on Aboriginal culture.” Everyone turned towards Ezekiel, in a very creepy and theatrical way, he thought.

“Hey, don’t look at me like that! Just because a guy is Australian doesn’t mean he knows everything about Aussie culture and Aboriginal stuff! Seriously.” 

Ezekiel shrugged at Eve’s #05 sigh and Cassandra’s what-will-we-do-with-you look. Jacob’s muttering was too low to be heard, and Ezekiel doubted it was something he really wanted to hear.

Jenkins was the only one who looked like he was already expecting it, making him rise in Ezekiel’s Favorite People list by 0.176 points, which meant he was almost caught up with Cassandra but still a little away from Eve. Flynn was the lowest person in the list, with the Prosperity guy above him and Moriarty a little below Jake, but not by much.

Flynn suddenly moved, doing his usual air brassing, lots of movements, little purpose thing. “I might just know a guy actually! He was a teacher at one of Sydney’s universities a few years ago. I met him thanks to Ezekiel actually.” 

There was something in the way Flynn said “thanks” that sounded about everything but “thanks”. 

Ezekiel looked at him, with the same confused face as everyone else, including Jenkins. “I’m… not aware of how I could have helped you, mate?”

The branch stopped centimers away from where Ezekiel’s face had been, but he had moved away before the critical moment, he placed himself in between Eve and Cassandra, a step behind them just in case Flynn’s maniac mode did not stop.

“You’re telling me that you don’t remember? You don’t remember Sydney 2004? The Australian History Museum?” Ezekiel stared at Flynn in complete confusion, it seemed the man had finally lost it, he’d only been in Sydney in 2004 for like a week, and he’d never met anyone at the History Museum except…  
“You’re the dude I conned into helping me?! When I stole that thingamajig from the vaults?”

“YES! That was me!”

Well now, that explained why Flynn hated his guts but. “What does that have to do with the teacher you know?” Eve asked before he could ask his own question.

“BECAUSE.” Flynn was becoming really red, that was worrisome, was he about to blow up? Ezekiel signaled at Jenkins to get Flynn some tea. Their sign language was pretty rudimentary so all Ezekiel really did was turn his thumb downward and make a pouring movement. 

“I got arrested for helping HIM steal the thing and I stayed in an Australian jail for three days while Judson cleared my name, and let me tell you, not the cleanest prison ever and almost no one to talk to, except that good fellow who got arrested for hitting a construction worker with his protest sign.”

Eve loudly sighed, that was #11 and clapped once, meaning Cassandra, Jenkins, Jake and Ezekiel all turned towards her while Flynn did not until Eve threw a rubber ball at his face. If it happened to you once you remembered to pay attention.

“Now, can we please get to work on saving the world from Prospero’s magic?”


	10. Rovinsky + mistletoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> three sentence prompt

Cabeswater was different when he woke up, the familiar trees that surrounded the clearing were different, their voices silent as they were overrun with mistletoe; Ronan called to the boy with the doe eyes, “Really, K? Mistletoe? Russian mobsters do Christmas, now?”

He loomed over Kavinsky, who wore an all white ensemble stained by the grass, one step closer and the still figure moved too fast for Ronan to avoid; he caught himself on his hands around Kavinsky’s head, brushing his undercut; their bodies touched from toe to head as Ronan’s lips were a breath away from Kavinsky’s.

“Maybe I’m a fucking sucker for dumb traditions,” Kavinsky said before his left hand cupped Ronan’s face and angled his face for a kiss; it was a Cabeswater kiss, real in all the ways that mattered and more, the grass hummed under them as the boys kissed and bit and rolled around on the forest floor; the pulse of teenage lust mixed with the knowledge that this would only ever happen in their dreams.


End file.
